No merrymaking just yet
Botswana celebrates her 55th Independence Day on September 30 and the following morning, the country will exit the State of Emergency (SoE) after 18 months. On the other hand, government has revealed that the country’s vaccination roll-out programme, which is currently in phase two, had moved to cover those aged 30 starting from Tuesday.
All these developments are raising hopes that life is on the road to a semblance of normalcy as cases and deaths from COVID-19 near record lows.
As Batswana celebrate Independence, some people are likely to come together for some merry making and irresponsible drinking of alcoholic. Hold your horses, we are far from marking the country’s independence from the virus.
Businesses that include nightclubs will be back in business from October 1 and as these establishments reopen across the country, this is likely to attract larger gatherings.
As we mark this special Independence celebration after the pandemic forced the cancellation of most events last year, we should not forget that we are still yet to emerge from the darkness of the last surge.
The previous year was a period of pain, fear and heartbreaking loss. Therefore, we should not let our guard down in any circumstance. As SoE ends we are back travelling again and we are back seeing each other, so we should also not forget to keep our masks on and maintain social distancing.
Currently, vaccines that are offered as first dose are AstraZeneca and Sinovac and the government has also announced that 50,400 doses of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine that were recently received are still undergoing due diligence and will be rolled out soon.
We have to admit that we have not yet made a significant progress against the pandemic due to the slow vaccination roll-out.
At last, we are exiting the SoE, but we shouldn’t declare victory over the pandemic yet. The Delta variant is still out there and it infects unvaccinated people. As movement restrictions and curfews are lifted, we therefore should exercise more caution on the roads. On October 1, we are expecting to see the roads getting a lot busier, particularly this weekend.
As thousands of motorists prepare to get behind the wheel for long journeys to meet up with loved ones, there is really a need to check on vehicle conditions. We should not be forced by the police to drive safely, but rather it’s upon motorists to always avoid serious crashes and fatalities.
This anticipated spike in road usage is coupled with drivers who may not have covered long distances in some time. So we will be dealing with motorists who are rusty and not forgetting those who drink and drive. The police recorded fewer road accidents and deaths during the past 18 months, so there is no reason to take these numbers up.